


The Summit

by tentainokonton



Series: Vignettes: Morty and Volkner [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series)
Genre: Darksideshipping, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-30
Updated: 2012-12-30
Packaged: 2017-11-23 01:07:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/616389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tentainokonton/pseuds/tentainokonton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Morty and Volkner meet for the first time in battle at the gym leaders' summit, an annual meeting held in each region to foster understanding and good relations between the gym leader elites of the Pokemon world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Summit

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted back in June of 2011 on Fanfiction.net. Is there really little Darksideshipping on AO3? I must fix that! I love this ship! If you do too, let me know. :D

Volkner never quite understood how he had come to be so close to Morty.

He supposed the earliest time he could pinpoint the moment their relationship changed for the better was during the gym leader summit in Sinnoh just over three years ago. At the beginning of the year, gym leaders from all of the nearby regions had come together to discuss anything and everything, though the focus remained primarily on battle tactics, battle standards and of course, battling. Those few days had been chock-full of action in every sense of the word.

He remembered it like it was only yesterday.

Each trainer was to spend the first day of the summit battling against one trainer from each other region. Volkner's battles with Misty from Kanto and Winona from Hoenn had gone by without a hitch, which left him to battle Morty from Johto.

Volkner wasn't worried. He'd battled dozens of trainers with ghost-type pokémon in his years as a gym leader. Their attacks were always the same: confuse, frighten, damage, repeat. Most trainers never knew the strength of their pokémon and how easily a ghost-type could be taken down if they were just hit hard and fast. It helped that his Jolteon knew Shadow Ball, as well, which made quick work of any overly confident trainers with ghost pokémon.

The battle began just like any other. Volkner sent out his Electivire, fully intent on knocking out Morty's Haunter with no trouble.

But the battle didn't go as expected. Before Electivire got his attack in, Haunter flashed him with a Confuse Ray that forced him to use Ice Punch on himself. This left Electivire significantly weakened, but Volkner pressed on and managed to break the confusion from his pokémon, who then succeeded in defeating Haunter with a well-aimed Fire Punch. The battle continued with Morty bringing out Misdreavus, another ghost type. This one was significantly faster than Electivire and managed to bring it down with a Shadow Ball so powerful it nearly knocked Volkner off his feet.

Volkner remembered the focus and drive in Morty's eyes during their battle. He also remembered how those beautiful brown eyes darted all over the battlefield, as if anticipating future moves. He had heard in summits past that Morty had developed extrasensory abilities, but they never seemed quite as powerful as Sabrina's or the twins from Hoenn…

With Electivire down, Volkner sent out Raichu. True to form, Volkner attempted to knock out Misdreavus hard and fast. With a pokémon that had speed rivaling Misdreavus he didn't think it would be too hard. One strong Thunderbolt left Morty's pokémon dazed, giving him the chance he needed. Raichu followed up with a Thunder that knocked Misdreavus out cold.

Morty wasted no time in switching her out and bringing in his final pokémon, Gengar. Volkner had heard all kinds of stories about Morty and his Gengar—namely about their bond, and how he could give him commands telepathically. The rumors held true, because shortly after the battle began, Gengar was all over the battlefield, performing moves left and right without so much as a word leaving Morty's mouth. Without any preemptive understanding of what move was coming, Volkner had to rely on his instinct. His instinct left Raichu open for a beating, and soon, he was taken down.

Volkner hadn't experienced the exhilaration of a battle like this in ages. That perhaps was one of the first things that had drawn him to the ghost-type trainer.

He sent out his own last pokémon, Jolteon. He resolved to use Shadow Ball as a surprising last resort, not wanting to give Morty any more of an upper-hand in the battle. It raged on for what seemed like ever, each pokémon dodging their rival's attack and blasting one in return. For a brief period of time Jolteon became confused from a Confuse Ray that blazed across the field. He took a lashing from Gengar, getting hit left and right by successive Night Shade attacks.

Just when the battle seemed won, Volkner called out to Jolteon, "Now, blast Gengar with a Shadow Ball shower!"

For a split second, Morty's eyes showed fear. It was gone in an instant, and he stared at Gengar, who was unable to dodge the attack in time. Gengar was pummeled repeatedly with Shadow Ball until he collapsed on the ground, defeated.

Volkner and Morty stared at each other for a long while before the ghost-type trainer crossed the battlefield and extended his hand.

"I knew I was going to lose…but I couldn't anticipate _that_. What a beautiful secret to hide. You really know how to train your pokémon."

Volkner didn't know how to respond at first. Morty spoke with no disappointment, no anger. He seemed almost glad that he'd lost. How unusual.

He settled upon, "Thank you."

"Please, let me buy you a drink. After that battle, I need some water!"

Never before had Volkner been so intrigued by another trainer. Something about Morty had drawn him in, and after that moment, piqued his curiosity.

They separated ways after the summit, but it wouldn't be long before they came across one another again.


End file.
